Eye protector



N. M. BAKER EYE PROTECTOR Dec. 29, 1931.

Filed March 1, 1930 Patented '29, 1931 omit-u STATES PA-TENT OFFICE NELSON M. BAKER, OF SOUTHIBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T AMERICAN OP- TICAL COMPANY, OF SOUTHIBRIDGE, MASSACH'IJ'SIEZTTS, A VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION or, mssAonu/smrs Application filed March 1,

This invention relates to improvements in eye-protectors and has" artlcular reference to an improved form 0 ventilating means for use therein.

The principal object of this invention is to provide free and abundant ventilation in an Eye-protector while excluding dust, light and eat.

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby eye-protectors fitting closely to the facial contour, particularly'at the nasal side, may be ventilated as freely as those projecting away from the face for greater distances.

Another object of this invention is to provide said improved ventilation and light exeluding means without adding baffle-plates or other parts which involve unnecessary expense and added weight to the eye-protector;

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby single lenses of different thicknesses or a plurality ,of lenses may be held with equal facility without disturbing the ventilatlng stream. Another object of the invention 1s to provide improved means of ventilation wherein the air currents may circulate directly across the face of the lens to revent the fogging and steaming thereof.

therobjects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the.aocompanying drawings and it will be understood that many changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown and described as the .preferred forms only have been shown by way of illustration.

In the drawings Fig. I is a front elevation of a pair of eye-protectors embodying the invention.

Fig. II is an enlarged central longitudinal section through one of the eyecups thereof.

Fig. III is a fragmenta enlarged view of a portion of the eyecup s own in Fig. II.

Fig. IV is a section taken on line IVIV of Flg. I. V

Fig. V is a perspective view of the tem- EYE PROTECTOR 1830. Serial N0. 432,450.

poral ventilating means showing the parts separated.

Fig. VI is an enlarged partial sectional view taken on line VIVT of Fig. I.

Fig. VII is a front view of a modification.

In various industrial occupations where the operatives are subjected to the hazards of intense light, heat and flying particles it i is necessary that the eyes should be carefully nasal side of each eyecup rests against the wearers nose and is much shorter than the temporal side, very little air is able to enter the usual eyecup having apertures in its nasal side. This dif'ficulty has given rise to much discomfort to the wearers of eye-protectors and in my invention I have taken cognizance of this and provided means whereby ample quantities of air will be permitted to enter the eyecup at the nasal side notwithstanding the close contact thereof with the wearers nose.

In prior art eye protectors the air for ventilation has usually been admitted and ex hausted through'the eyecup at a point intermediate the facial contact edge and the inner surface of the lens. It has been found from experience that with this construction there is a great. tendency. of the lenses to steam and fog owin to the difi'erence in temperature between t e inside of the eyecup and the outside thereof. In my invention means have been provided by which the air currents are brought into and exhausted from the eyecup so that the air may circulate directly across the surface of the lens to maintain a substantially equal tempers poses I provide a series removed to form an un ercut portion 9 as' be opposite the undercut a tapered ably bevelled edge on thelens 10. With this of the taper 12 where a suitable recess 14 is provided around have provided improved means of excluding undesired light-rays which are encountere in welding the furnace work. One of the major disadvantages of prior art eye-protectors was that when a better ventilatlon was created it was often at the expense of admitting" light to. the wearers eyes and so detracting wholly from the value of the article as an eye-protector.

' It is theprime object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improved construction for an e e-protector embodying adequate ventilation without sacrifice of thehght-excluding properties. Referring to the drawings wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown for the purpose of illustration the numeral 1 denotes the cup portions of the eye-protector which are connected by means of a chain 2 having a suitable flexible coverin 3 constituting a bridge portion.

T e eyecups. 1' are preferably shaped with a face-contacting portion 4 which fits snugly to the facial contour and the sides 5 of the cups are also slightly angled with the center line 6 to cause convergence when upon the face and allow a wide angle ofvision. A coneshaped portion-Y at the upper end of the eyecups 1 also aids in widening the field of vision.

At the upper end of the eyecups 1 is-a threaded portion 8 havin the initial thread shown in Fig. III. A lens 10 or lenses of some hght retarding glass may be laced upon the upper end of the eyecup 1 an held in position by the cap-member 11.

The novel construction of the ventilatin means will now be apparent, inasmuch as I utilize the cap 11 itself as art of these means. In this regard it will re ily be seen that the cap 11 is always free from obstruction at the nasal side being much farther from the face than the eyecup? wall 5 which fits snuglyagainst the nose.

The ca '11 is preferably threaded to fit the three ed portion 8 of the eyecup and has portion 12' fitting against a suitconstruction the lens '10 protrudes slightly beyound the cap '11 with either thick or thin lenses 'm p9Sit1011 and among other advantages permlts the lens to be wiped ofi'easily and also permits flying particles to glance off its surface without breakage.

In-utilizing the cap '11 for ventilating puro apertures 13 preferably equally spaced around the side there of communicating preferably at the junction and the threaded portion the interior, of the cap. This recess 14 will 9 of the eyecup 1 11 are in position allow a circulation when the lens 10 and cap as shown in Fig. III and site directions as shown in Fig. VI.

of air all around the'eyecup between the said eyecup 1 and cap 11.

' In order to allow this air to reach the interior of the eyecup I provide a series of slots 15 preferably all around the top of the eyecup, as shown in Fig. IV. These slots 15 are formed to suficient depth to register with the apertures 13 in the ca 11 so that when the cap is screwed down wit the lens 10 in position all of said apertures 13 will commumcate with the slots 15 and allow ample air to enter the eyecup. It will be apparent from this construction that air may enter and circulate across the surface of the lens 10 and prevent the fogging or steaming thereof which has been a big factor in the inefiiciency of prior art eyecups and detracted from their com-,

.the angular dispostion 0 these slots 15 relative to the center 16 of the eyecup 1 as shown in Fig. IV no direct light can enter and reach the wearers eye, but the rays will strike the sides of the slots and be directed awa from the eyes. This feature is particular y valuable in welding operations where intense and injurious light rays are combined with considerable heat and it'is imperative that operatives eyes be rotected from both. In my invention it will e seen that this has been accomplished so far at the nasal side and the entrance of ample air without injurious light is assured.

In the emission of the air at the temporal side similar considerations must be satisfied inasmuch as free passa e for the air must be provided without the anger of light entering the eyecup. Ihave provided novel means of satisfying these requirementsby forming a large opening 17 in the temporal wall of the eyecup 1 and placing thereover the shield me er 18.

' he shield member 18 is preferably formed of a air of thin la'tes 19 of metal or other suita le material having a series of louvres 20 struck-up from their surfaces in op 0- nc plate is made convex and the other concave m contour so that they may be secured one within the other by soldering or other suitable means.. The plate 19 which is to be placed against the eyecup is preferably secured to its fellow with a sli ht difference in height between theed eso? the re stering louvres as shown by el) in Fig. In th1s manner I obtain the desired result of securing a free flow of air from the interior to the exterior of the eyecup 1 without admitting direct light-rays to the wearers eyes cure a head-band hol member 23 to the outer plate member 19 o the shield and this member 23 may be formed'of a rectan r stripof the same material used for the s ield 18 and secured thereto by soldering or other suitable means. A headband 24 is secured in will impinge on the front of the wearei"s face and be deflected into the nasal ventilationapertures 13. After circulating across the eyecup and preventing overheating the wearers eyes and fogging of the lenses the air will pass out through the temporal ventilation means or louvres 20. No light will be able to enter at either the nasal or tem oral side and only light which is properly ltered by the lens 10 will reach the wearer s eyes.

It will be apparent, however, that should this eye-protector be used, in chipping or other occupation where the exclusion of light is not a factor in the construction I may utilize the nasal ventilating means described without using the temporal. -I may for instance place a wire mesh screen 25 as shown 'in Fig. VII'I or other prior .art device over the temporal opening 17 to obtain quite unrestricted yentilationwhilst' utilizing the novel cap ventilation at the nasalside. .In this manner my device may be employed for occupations requiring both light and heat protection and also those requiring'only protection from flying particles.

From the foregoing it will be apparent" that I have provided simple. and' economical means of ventilating eye-protectors both where'light must be excluded and where this is not necessary. The entrance of air is not impeded by the close contact of the-nasal side with the wearers" face'and at all times agood flow of .-air will'travel across the eyecup to the temporal side. It will also be apparent that this advantageous featurehas been obtained without admitting injurious light-rays to the interior of the cup thus rendering this novel constructionof wide application for industrial andother purposes.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. In a device of the character described, a

across witha plurality of ventilation grooves extending from the outer to the inner surfaces thereof, said grooves being open at the her over the lens having thread means en ging the thread means on the e coup and aving transverse openings in su antial ali ment with the grooves. 1

3. In a de 'ce of the character described, a

substantially annular eyecup having one end to fit the face, a lurality of ventilatlon opena ings adjacent t e other end, thread means on the outer surface adjacent to and on the e e side of said openings, a lens resting on e eyecup on the end opposite from the face and a cap member over the lens having an unthreaded portion adjacent'the outer end thereof, a plurality of openings adjacent said unthreaded portion, and athreaded portion adjacent the inner end thereof, said cap fitting over the lens and said thread means engaging the thread means. on the eyecup and said openings being in substantial alignment with the openings in the eyecup.

4. In a device of the character described, a substantially annular eyecup having one end to fit the face, a plurality of ventilation openings adjacent the other end, and a threadedaving a threaded portion between the inner end and the said openings the threaded portion of the cap enga' the threaded'portion of the cup and adapte to lock the beveled portlon of the ca the beveled portion of the lens with t e openings in the cap substantially alignment with the transverse epenings m-. I

thecup. 1

- NELSQN BAKER.

substantially annular eyecup having one end to fit the face andits other end scored across with a plurality of grooves extending arated ventilation e outer to the inner from surfaces thereof, and thread means on the outer surface adjacent the bottom of the grooves, a lens resting on to of the ipoyes V1118 and a cap inember over 0 lens threadmeans engigmg the thread means on the eyecup and ving openings in substantial alignm ent with the yes.

2. In a device of the character ascribed a substantially annular eyecup having one end to fitthe faceandhavingtheother end scored 

